Graphene – from science to business in 2016

January 03, 2017•
Marko Spasenovic

2016 was another successful year for Graphenea, both scientifically and in business.

Our research team participated in some of the most important scientific results of the year that found their place in top scientific publications. We continued our lasting collaboration with researchers at CIC nanoGune and ICFO in Spain to image in unprecedented detail plasmons in graphene. Plasmons are optical waves confined to the surface of a material that have potential applications in computing technology, sensing, and quantum communication. Plasmons in graphene are more interesting than in conventional metal materials, in that they can be easily controlled and tuned with electric gating. Our paper in Nature Photonics resolved the intricate details of edge and sheet plasmons in graphene nano-resonators.

In collaboration with researchers from the UK, our team revealed important details of the workings of graphene sensors. Careful study showed that graphene gas sensors are strongly affected by both ambient humidity and the substrate on which graphene is placed. In case of bilayer graphene, the bottom layer is strongly affected by the substrate, while the top is almost entirely dominated by ambient conditions. This important work showed that graphene sensors need to be carefully calibrated and other graphene devices must be encapsulated with protective layers. The work was published in the renowned journal Carbon.

Also published in Carbon in 2016 is our study on the effect of wrinkles on CVD graphene. These wrinkles naturally form during the growth process, but our work together with researchers from Serbia shows that frictional damage to graphene always starts at the wrinkles, which turn out to be the material’s weakest point. Furthermore, the wrinkles act as tiny barriers that impede the flow of current through graphene, affecting its overall electrical performance. This careful study of electrical and mechanical effects of wrinkles in graphene is expected to lead to new experiments on improving graphene uniformity and flatness, helping to speed up the adoption of graphene technology.

Our CVD graphene production capacity increased with the addition of a new 8” growth system in April. The system is housed in our new cleanroom, where we expect production to start at the beginning of 2017. In September we introduced a new product: Easy Transfer. Easy Transfer makes creating graphene samples on custom substrates a breeze for our customers, since it features graphene that is already detached from the CVD growth substrate. We also made life easier for our customers that make use of graphene oxide by introducing dry graphene oxide (GO) powder to our catalog. Compared to GO suspended in liquid, dry GO is easier to dispense in a composite matrix, eliminating extra chemistry steps in production.